


Oh, if the sky comes falling down

by Illiterate_writter



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: A bear comes through, Completed, F/M, Future Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lost elfling, Mablung is a good uncle, Maeglin needs a good uncle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28957239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illiterate_writter/pseuds/Illiterate_writter
Summary: Maeglin is a little elfling playing in the forest, but as the day grows deeper and then turns into night time he doesn't return.Thankfully his Uncle is there to look out for him.Featuring hurt/comfort, a concerned adult and the seeds of what is to come.Or alternatively, it features: Maeglin, Mablung and a bear
Relationships: Aredhel & Maeglin | Lómion, Aredhel/Eöl (Tolkien), Eöl & Maeglin | Lómion
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> This does not contain my head cannons, I don't actually believe that Mablung and Eol are brothers. I think that Eol has a brother who is Celeborn's dad ( so Eol is Celeborn's Uncle) but for the sake of simplicity, Mablung is an uncle.  
> Secondly, I think Aredhel would have loved Maeglin more than anything, but she would not have been a great mother. She is too much of a free spirit and Maeglin 'ties her down'.

Under the heavy canopy of the eerie forest, the sweltering summer heat had returned with renewed vigour after a mild winter. Along the banks of a fast-flowing river sat a group of mellow elves, they had come from the big manor, to escape the harsh heat. While there are at least a dozen elves, only four are of importance at the moment: Eöl, Lord of Nan Elmoth (and kinsman to Thingol, although there is no great love between them and many yeni have passed since they last spoke), his wife Aredhel and an elfling without a name. The fourth elf is Eöl’s brother, Mablung, but he is not with the rest of them, he has lingered back at the manor to get rest. 

Our elfling is sitting dejectedly by the river, splashing his legs into the crispy water and quickly pulling them up once the cold current bites his toes. His mother has just given him a tongue lashing for dropping a carafe of wine. It is of this little elfling who only reaches his parents' thighs that our story revolves around. 

While tall for his age, he is very scrawny, his hair is shaved close to his scalp, long eyelashes frame his too-large eyes. In the years to come, he will be called Maeglin. His father's objection to naming him sparks many of his parents' quarrels. Although nowadays they will argue about anything and everything, as the years passed both turned to other elves to warm their beds and thus their enmity grew. The soon-to-be Maeglin is dressed in an inky hose and a midnight blue tunic, which highlight his jutting cheekbones.

Growing bored of being fed up, the young boy skips into the surrounding prickly foliage, making his way to a favourite clearing of his. 

The clearing is a small oval, at one end there is a cluster of red berries, which smell most delightfully but are also very poisonous, at the other is a patch of soil which has been recently disturbed and the rest, of the clearing, is covered with some dying grass. There is also a mound of dirt at the edge of the forest line, it belongs to a mole, which is currently out, looking for food. There are clear signs of a child recently visiting there, skid marks on the grass and a crooked branch on the berry bush. 

Once the young child arrives at the clearing, the patch of dirt gets quickly dug up. Two wooden knives get pulled out. Our protagonist has been forced to hide them after he angered his father last week. They're no more, then two sticks and they are not at all pleasant to look at, but compared to all his other neglected belongings they are like bars of gold. He starts to hack at the surrounding trees with his cherished toys, the fierce heat having been forgotten, as young kids are inclined to doing. 

He spends two hours in the clearing playing, his parents glad that he isn’t bothering them. When finally, wearying of the repetitive game, he decides to go further into the heart of the forest, to find patches of honey. He had overheard Uncle Mablung describing the sweet, aromatic syrupy liquid, with his Adar, while squatting outside of the library door. 

Uncle Mablung is Eöl’s older brother, because of the large age gap they are not close, but, Mablung feels a measure of responsibility towards him. Uncle is a march warden of Doriath and visits every year in the summer to collect the swords that Eöl has made for king Thingol. 

Uncle is his favourite person; he brings liquorice sticks and spends time telling him of the glittering wonders found inside Menegroth. "Maeglin's" mind is filled with stories of a wise queen, a beautiful princess and a myriad off brave captains, much to Eöl’s displeasure. He [Maeglin] dreams of going to Menegroth one day, where he will meet Queen Melian and will become the best smith of the whole Sindar. The main reason Mablung spends so much time with his nephew is to avoid interacting with his brother and his sister-in-law, they both give him the creeps, but, Uncle Mablung is also the reason the young elfling is still healthy. Eöl and Aredhel both are quick to proclaim to their son that they love him, but they will forget to feed him and to dress him warmly and to wash him and to braid his hair. 

It's almost a good thing that they live in isolation otherwise, he would have quickly realised how his parents are the only elves that show this little concern towards their child. Mablung often deems it will be better to just take the little one with him, but he can not look after an elfling and be a march warden all by himself.

It is with great fortune that Uncle Mablung is visiting because as the hours slip into the evening and then into the night, the little elfling does not return to his parents.


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mablung gets a glimpse into Aredhel's and Eol's relationship and finaly finds out about our missing elfling.

Groggily Mablung pushes himself up, from the bed and groans when he realises where he is. Wooden walls with minimal decorations and few comforts greet him. The tall warrior groans once more and rolls over in bed. He spends a few precious moments luxuriating in the peace and quiet of the room, before descending the creaking stairs.  
  
The manor in Nan Elmoth is an old house, that was made to blend in the dark forest, the wood is stained black and at night the lights are kept dim to avoid unwanted attention. When king Thingol is in the mood to abuse Eöl, he will gleefully say that the old girl [the forest] is finally tearing down the mausoleum. It is not hard to see why: there are tree roots that have overturned the wooden planks; Some windows have been smashed from waving tree branches; It even is impossible to exit from the back door, because of the barbed shrubs that flourish in the gloomy forest floor. Only three rooms have kept their old splendour, the living room, with its plush velvet furnishings, the forge and the library, with its many precious tomes. 

Before Eöl had isolated himself, he had been a very influential and wealthy elf. He used to be the only diplomat of the Sindar concerning the Khazad, all the trade between the two people would pass from his hands. The manor used to be decorated: with precious spotted furs that originated from the south-east; delicate wines filled his pantry; he would even pay, four small chests of silver coins, to obtain chai. But the longer he spent next to his fallen star, the crazier he became. Eöl would spend hours mining the ore and double the time in a dark room obsessing over its properties. That is around when he fought with King Thingol and when he met Aredhel. Since then, he has been deteriorating more and more. Even his hair has turned from silver like the moon to coal-black. 

The manor just mirrors its lord. 

* * *

  
“Fuck you, you Bastard.” 

“Shut up, you uncouth bitch! If you weren’t such a pampered princess this wouldn’t have happened.” 

Letting a weary sigh escape, the tall elf ducks into the drawing-room. Mablung is greeted by the sight of his brother and sister-in-law clawing at each other’s throat like a pair of starved beasts.   
Trying to look unaffected he quickly makes his way towards a hardback chair, with a scary vulture etched into the back. Zoning both of them out he starts to assess the room, its a habit he has adopted even in civilian life. The corners of the room are drowned in heavy shadows; Eöl occupies the other vulture-chair and the lady is wearing holes into the dwarvish-made carpet.  
  
“Where is the chap?” Mablung is surprised to see that the young rascal isn’t here, the child has a habit of taking his afternoon naps amidst the soft silk pillows of the sofa. 

“That a-hole has lost my son!”   
Aredhel reminds him of a caged animal. He had once visited an exhibit that mortal men had set up, there they kept all sorts of animals in cages. One such animal had been a large scaly creature that would paw at the ground and huff anxiously. Aredhel alternating between shooting glances at Eöl and screaming at him looked just like that animal. 

Mablung doesn't fully comprehend what she has said until after he processes her scathing tone.


	3. Chapter III

With a start, he wakes up from his light sleep, scary images had plagued him all night. One stared his Adar, they were in a white room, nothing was happening, but it was so strange, he has never seen so much white in his entire life, and in a second dream, he was being chased. Rubbing the lingering tiredness from his eyes, he finally notices a startling sight, a handful of metres in front him a large bear is napping in a tight coil.

The giant beast is clothed in a rich brown coat; its talons are twice the size of our protagonist's fingers and its deep, even breaths cause his bones to rattle. 

Tiptoeing away, he tries to leave before the bear wakes up and decides that he will be a perfect morning snack. 

Unbeknown to either of them, Mablung was only about fifty meters away. The young Rana had brought him to this stretch of identical trees, after going on a false trail for half the night. 

Gripping his bow tighter Mablung gets off his horse and follows the canine deeper into the forest. Stumbling over a root, he curses his tiredness, after many hours of trudging through the miserable forest even Mablung’s elvish stamina is nearing its limit, he will have to sleep soon. 

Wrestling with some unyielding branches, Mablung continues his search for his wayward nephew. He fails to notice the sleeping bear until he falls face-first into its warm body.

Without having any time to identify what is happening the hardened warrior is thrown up into the air and the bear is up on its two feet. 

Quick reflexes allow Mablung to land upright, without wasting a second, he grabs his flint knife and raises both of his arms above his head. 

_ Rule 1: When in a confrontation with a bear, make yourself look as big as you can.  _

The grizzly momentarily goes back down on all its feet, assessing the situation, but, a second later it's upright again waving its paws and growling. 

_ Rule 2: Never look a bear in its eyes. _

Keeping a steady eye on the bear's body, he takes a measured step forward and then another. 

Luck is not with him that day, the bear lunges forward and meets Mablung straight on. Jumping to the right, he thrusts his knife in the bears back.

Roaring in pain, it twists and claws towards him. 

Slashing the flint dagger at the bear's face, Mablung roars and delivers a long slash, starting from the forehead and ending at the snout, purposefully avoiding the large pitch-black eyes. 

With a final howl, the bear turns around and runs back to its cave. 

Dozens of little birds fly into the air and leave as fast as they can, away from the obviously pained yelp. 

_ That’s the bear _ , even the boy’s childish mind recognized that loud scream. His fingers wrap around a wrinkly branch and he hauls himself up. Putting one foot in front of the other, he scales the proud tree in no time. 

Just in time, he manages to reach a tall branch and sit on it, as the bear ploughs right through the underbrush and past his tree. On its head is a bright red wound.

His pulse speeds up as fast as a mockingbirds wings and he almost lets out a scream, but remembering what his nana had told him, he tried to stay calm and doesn’t move even a finger width, waiting for the bear to leave. 

Once it is gone, he starts to sob, the past days' events being too much for him. Crying until his eyes are dry and his but hurt from the hardwood, he slowly climbs down. 

When he is finally safe on the dirt floor, he curls back into a tight little ball and waits for somebody to find him. 

Not much time had passed when horse steps broke the forests eerie silence. 

“Aha, Boy there you are.” His uncle appears out of nowhere and picks him up. Into the air, he goes, until he's tucked safely inside his uncles embrace. 

Hiding his face inside the crook of the older elf’s neck, he starts to let out a series of loud heart-wrenching sobs. 

Not waiting for the tears to subside, Mablung grasps his horse's reigns and starts to make his way back to the manor. 

“Sh, you’re safe little one. No one can hurt you.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you liked it, please leave some constructive criticism.  
> Or visit my Tumblr: https://illeteratetolkienfan.tumblr.com/


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